Hiatus

Because of other matters that need my attention, NarberthUSA is going to be suspended for a time. I will try to resume regular posting in about a month.

Update

In the face of severe criticism from journalists and bloggers with a lot more influence than I have, a few Republicans such as John Boehner, Mitt Romney, and Sarah Palin today joined political leaders, members of the clergy, and others in condemning the threatened Koran burning that is scheduled to occur on Saturday. Others, including John McCain and Newt Gingrich, have refused, despite serious concerns expressed by Gen. Petraeus and other high level military commanders, to go on the record as opposing the burning.

Not the Time for Silence

About ten days ago I wrote about Terry Jones, a hateful bigot in Florida, who insists on exercising his First Amendment rights by burning Korans on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Today, just four days before the scheduled book-burning, General David Petraeus, the widely respected commander of the war in Afghanistan, warned that images of the burning of a Koran "would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan – and around the world – to inflame public opinion and incite violence." In other words, Americans, both military and civilian, could be put in harm's way. But even that plea from General Petraeus doesn't seem to be enough to deter Terry Jones. What's just as interesting is the long list of Republicans and conservatives who so far, at least, apparently have failed to speak up to condemn Jones and his plan. As of tonight, the list of those who apparently have decided to remain silent on this issue includes former President Bush, former Vice President Cheney, former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Eric Cantor, Lindsey Graham, and many others who never seem to hesitate to express their opinions about other issues as loudly and frequently as they can.


(If anyone has evidence that I named anyone who should not be included my list, please let me know so that I can make an immediate correction.)

Mama Grizzly

I've tried very hard to avoid talking about Sarah Palin. My hope has been that if we just ignore her, maybe she'll go away. There is nothing in her background to suggest that she has the education or experience to be president. Before she was governor, she was the mayor of Wasilla, a town with about 5,500 people at the time of the 2000 census (Narberth had about 4,200 and Lower Merion had close to 60,000 according to that same census). She served less than one full term as governor of Alaska, a state that has about half the number of residents that Philadelphia has. She seems sometimes to have trouble distinguishing truth from fiction (remember the Bridge to Nowhere, Troopergate, the oil pipeline, and the firing of Wasilla's police chief?). If you ever listened to one of her speeches, you quickly realized that she complains a lot, but she never has specific suggestions to fix policies with which she finds fault. But maybe I've been deluding myself because it's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the reality that Palin is running for president and that she has a base of supporters who seem willing to pretend that she's qualified for the job.

The October issue of Vanity Fair has an in-depth profile of Sarah Palin by Michal Joseph Gross. It is not flattering and, in fact, some might say it's a little scary. It's a long article, but it's well worth reading.